Klemick & Gampel Blog

Two Women Stranded Inside Elevator for Two Days..

Without knowing it, a dutiful employee who was “catching up” on work the day before Christmas, probably saved two lives.

Two cleaning ladies in Niles, Illinois, a Chicago suburb were stuck in a malfunctioned elevator and might have been there until after the holidays had it not been for one resourceful employee, according to the Associated Press.

Without cell phones and helpless after an emergency alarm went unanswered, Beata Bartoszewicz and her mother, Roma Borowski’s hopes were revived when they heard someone on the first floor talking. They began screaming. The employee heard the calls, rushed to the elevator and pushed the button. But the doors didn’t open. He called 911 and responding fire crews opened the door to free the women on Christmas Eve.

The pair entered the elevator on Dec. 22 and stayed there when the car became stuck on the first floor of the 2-story building They became dizzy from hunger. "I was close to thinking I was going to die," Bartoszewicz said.

The women slept on their coats and used a corner of the elevator as a bathroom. Bartoszewicz said her mother kept her spirits up. "She kept saying, `We're going to be OK, and we're going to spend Christmas Eve at home,'" the 25-year-old said.

Bartoszewicz said there was a simple moral to this story: "Always take your cell phone with you."